i just thought that was how they display funds in the EU... using commas where the US uses periods, and vice-versa.... but i only guessed that from seeing it out there so much. and i've never had a problem with it during any of my german transactions. those sneakers for 3,75? they ended up costing exactly what i expected after the exchange rate was calculated. that's a pretty good deal on a pair of sneakers, i might add.

smallsynth wrote:i just thought that was how they display funds in the EU... using commas where the US uses periods, and vice-versa.... but i only guessed that from seeing it out there so much. and i've never had a problem with it during any of my german transactions. those sneakers for 3,75? they ended up costing exactly what i expected after the exchange rate was calculated. that's a pretty good deal on a pair of sneakers, i might add.

-geoffrey smallsynth

I discovered that you are correct-thank you. Apparently the Ebay staff was too busy to take the time to answer this question directly and instead directed a confused bot to spit out a non-sequitur e-mail back to me.

Hi
I have bought a few large-ticket items on Ebay, including a Hammond organ and a leslie...they were cash/pick-up which is the best of all.
But I would also buy from an Ebayer that displayed the Paypal Protection Logo, but I would hesitate to buy from a seller that didn't have this.
FYI, in Germany they are quite used to bank transfer for payments.

If you sell using paypal protection...remember you MUST ship to the address the buyer has registered with paypal, no exceptions, and it MUST be a CONFIRMED address. And do not allow collection when selling with Paypal...cash only...you MUST have a trackable shipping method with Paypal.

this isn't about an auction. i was contacted, apparently from my wtb ad on here.

my main reason that i pretty much refuse to buy is that it is too good to be true. the guy tries to fill whatever i ask of him. but i just don't see anyone in the UK honestly selling me near a mint moog prodigy for 450 USD including shipping.

i think the too good to be true factor is huge. you will be tempted to go against your sense...because people do sometimes get good deals. there is not really much else about this person that otherwise makes me suspicious...but sometimes you just have to go with your intuition.

Here is a POLY 800 that I sent back. Unless they are selling another one using the same pic, the one I got and returned was nonfunctional and had a broken C key. And it was filthy and smelled like cigarette smoke. POS BIG TIME!

Their price reflects the shipping they spent to get it to me, a turd nicely wrapped.

BEWARE.

I gave them a good response before I got and tested it, then I had to play this game to get my money back. They suckered me with their shipping cost sob story, and foolishly, for the last time, I will NOT positive feedback unless someone deserves it. BULLSHIT CUBED!

AstroDan wrote:Ebay's big enough now, they really need to set up some third party shipping/receiving/cash on delivery type service. As in: I send the item I just sold to the Transaction Center, and the buyer sends the payment to the Transaction Center, and someone there says "Item looks good. Payment looks good. Okay. Everything's verified." I'm certain it would be more complicated and troublesome than that. But as Ebay gets bigger, and the scamming too, the days are numbered for unregulated peer-to-peer dealing.

So go start one. Right now. Get off the GX1 and go.

Or not.

Similar to an escrow? Huh...interesting idea. Makes me wonder what eBay would charge for THAT service.

Anyway, everyone has an opinion and here's mine.
1) I ONLY deal with sellers who use PayPal (I've only made one exception and I won't do it again)!
2) Yes, I avoid zero Feedback sellers. If you have zero feedback then you should probably conduct a few smaller deals to establish a reputation before you jump on and start selling $500 - $3,000+ synths and gear.
3) I don't buy from sellers who have disabled the Buyer Protection--that makes me think they're up to no good.
Although I DO understand the other poster's stance about having your gear raped and returned to you for a refund! I wholeheartedly support sellers protecting themselves from this. And as a buyer I have to protect myself too.
4) I try to do a little homework so that I can make sure that the price is reasonable. Some items have a starting bid that is so high it's like a Buy-It-Now price, really.
5) Use email and the telephone to communicate with the seller as much as you want. If you feel even a little suspicious--walk away. Your intuition is always RIGHT for you.

I don't think the Russian mafia represents Russia's attempts at capitalism anymore than the Italian Mafia in New York represents US Capitalism. These eBay scammers are simply criminals and terrorists--not legitimate Chinese businessmen. IMHO. I don't think that we should let these things reflect badly on China beyond the sad reality that China isn't doing enough to combat these criminals in their county.

So I'm pretty new to the whole synthesizer game, and am just looking into getting my first synth, and wanted to thank everyone for this thread since it definitely helped me learn some things about the potential dangers of ebay shopping.

Read the reviews on the Canon EOS 5D camera. Many of them aren't camera reviews. They are ebay scam warnings. The gist is: if you're buying a big ticket item on ebay, KNOW who you are dealing with. Some scammers spend years building up good feedback on piddly c**p, then open up a plethora of high-ticket scam items and walk away with a lot of cash. Use a credit card that will back you up and reverse a fraudulent charge.